The Wardlaw Museum — known to most people as MUSA, the Museum of the University of St Andrews — reopened in 2022 after a major renovation and is now one of the best small university museums in Scotland. It occupies a converted building on The Scores, the road running along the clifftop between the town centre and the sea.
The permanent collection covers the history of the university from its 1413 foundation to the present, but the most interesting material is the scientific and artistic accumulation of six centuries. The university's collection of historical scientific instruments is substantial — astrolabes, orreries, sundials, telescopes — and displayed well. The art collection includes works by minor Dutch masters, portrait paintings from every century of the university's existence, and a handful of genuinely surprising pieces.
The temporary exhibition programme has improved markedly since the renovation. Entry is free, which makes it an easy addition to a day already spent on the cathedral and castle. The building itself — a converted Victorian structure with a modern interior — works well. Allow 60 to 90 minutes.